5 DC Characters That Have Disappeared And Need to Come Back

There are a lot of characters in DC Comics and given that the publisher has nearly a century of stories, that’s no surprise. Over the years, countless heroes and villains have been at the heart of tales that have thrilled readers with some even reaching audiences off the comic book page thanks to adaptations for television and film. But there are also characters who have disappeared from the comics, their stories told or cut short. Sometimes, that’s the natural life cycle of things and a character simply runs their course, but there are some who have departed the page and still have plenty of potential.

These are the characters whose stories don’t feel like they’re over just yet. These five characters encompass a full range for DC, with some of them being relatively new introductions to the universe that were seemingly just dropped while others are classic characters whose names have come up in terms of different adaptations but haven’t yet made a return. Whatever their specific situation, these characters all have great potential that deserves to be explored, not relegated to the archive.

5) Blackhawk

To be fair, Blackhawk hasn’t entirely disappeared. Back in 2018, it was reported that Steven Spielberg was involved in a Blackhawk film project for Warner Bros., though that hasn’t exactly panned out and the character has appeared on the pages of DC Comics a few times in the 2000s, but generally the character as well as his associated team, the Blackhawks, haven’t really been around. Originally appearing in Quality Comics starting in 1941, Blackhawk was a mysterious man leading a small team of World War II-era ace pilots known as the Blackhawk Squadron, or the Blackhawks. Blackhawk and his team were very popular in the ‘40s, but over time that popularity waned. The character has had a few revamps over the years, including the revelation of his real name as Janos Prohaska in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the team has made some appearances in major stories in more recent years, including during the New 52 and Rebirth eras, but nothing especially substantial.

While bringing Blackhawk into DC’s main line of comics probably isn’t something that’s in the cards, resurrecting the character and the team for a Black Label prestige series could be really interesting. There is a rich history in comics of wartime teams and characters and it would be really cool to see those stories explored with modern creators and artists at the helm.

4) Mr. Bloom

Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Mr. Bloom is a relatively newer Batman villain, first appearing in 2015 in Batman #43. The primary antagonist of the “Superheavy” story arc, Mr. Bloom was a foe for Jim Gordon during his tenure as Batman and it’s revealed that Mr. Bloom’s goal is to murder everyone in Gotham City to start over again, something he sees as an act of improvement. Bruce Wayne ultimately has to back as Batman to defeat him, though Mr. Bloom does show up again in Task Force Z #1 in 2021, working Red Hood.

As a newer character, it’s not surprising that we haven’t seen more of Mr. Bloom, but it also kind of feels like he simply vanished which is unfortunate because there’s a lot of potential there. One of the things about Batman is that he has a lot of villains on his roster, but it seems like the same ones get used over and over. Bringing back someone like Mr. Bloom would be a solid move in terms of keeping Batman stories fresh but would also be a good way to diversify stories for newer readers.

3) Sodam Yat

There are a lot of Green Lanterns, but Sodam Yat is probably among the most interesting, which is why his absence is particularly frustrating. When he was introduced, he was part of the overall Blackest Night prophecy and was established as the greatest Green Lantern of his age. When Kyle Rayner stopped being the host for Ion, Yat is chosen for the role and becomes extremely powerful. He eventually sacrifices himself to enter Daxam’s sun yellow so the Daxamites can fight off the Sinestro Corps, and while he’s later freed, that’s pretty much it.

Given that the Green Lantern Corps is large and their corner of the DC Universe is expansive, there feels like there are a lot more stories that could be told with Yat. With a character so powerful and whose story has been so woven into the mythos of Green Lantern at various points, he’s a character that deserves to return, even if not in the main continuity. It might actually be interesting to see him appear in the Absolute Universe, now that we think about it.

2) Firestorm

Firestorm is such an interesting character that it is just wrong that the character has more or less disappeared. A popular character during the later Bronze Age of comics, Firestorm was a mainstay, with the original formation created by Ronnie Raymond and Dr. Martin Stein even joining the Justice League and, at one point, having his own series. The character then fell off in the ‘90s, reappeared only to be killed in Identity Crisis but a new version emerged and nothing really clicked after that. Firestorm has had a few minor appearances — namely in Doomsday Clock — but that’s been it.

Why should Firestorm get a comeback? Part of it is that the concept of Firestorm is really interesting and especially with DC’s Absolute Universe, it feels like something that could be explored in a really compelling way. Beyond that, however, the character was a significant element of The CW’s Arrowverse, and really found his stride on Legends of Tomorrow so it feels like this is a case where the character could have a wider appeal and is just being underutilized.

1) Sideways

The aftermath of Dark Nights: Metal, DC launched the “New Age of DC Heroes” and that in turn offered readers some brand-new heroes with stories to follow, such as The Silencer, Damage, and Sideways. Of that new back of heroes, Sideways was arguably the best, a young Gotham resident named Derek James who was turned into a metahuman when the city was torn apart by earthquakes. His power let him create portals to travel anywhere in the entire multiverse and it led him to taking up the Sideways mantle and operating as a hero. However, his story ended after just 13 issues, another case of a newer character that just vanished.

While we’ve already established that this is just a thing with DC and its new characters, Sideways stands out as a vanished character that needs a comeback the most because not only is Sideways a newer character, but is younger as well. Most of the characters that DC focuses their stories around are older and, of those that aren’t, they’re already deeply established with decades of complicated lore. Sideways presents a rare opportunity for a new character with a largely clean slate that is also accessible to younger readers. With DC in its All In initiative, it seems like a waste to not incorporate Sideways, especially with his multiverse-hopping powers. After all, those multiversal threats never really stop and Sideways would be perfect to answer the call.

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